Giving back with an educational legacy

Sunday

In both cases, the goal was to give back to society and the local community and to provide ongoing educational opportunity and support.

Meller and Pazienza are just two of the many individuals who sponsor scholarships through the Burlington County College Foundation and who also have made plans to leave a portion of their assets to BCC in their wills.

“If it wasn’t for the generosity of total strangers helping to pay for my college education, I would not be where I am today,” said Meller, a Medford Lakes resident who is vice president of finance for the Philadelphia Foundation. “My mother always emphasized the importance of education. Without a scholarship, though, I would not have been able to attend college at all.”

Similarly, college students in Burlington County struggle in the current economic downturn to fund their education despite the fact that the BCC board of trustees maintains a tuition that is one of the least expensive in New Jersey.

The Philadelphia Foundation, which manages more than 800 charitable funds to maximize the impact of such contributions, recently joined forces with the BCC Foundation to encourage local residents to make planned gifts to the institution as part of their estate planning.

“My grandfather spent his life giving back,” said Pazienza, who owns several small businesses and lives in Moorestown. “He was always finding jobs for people in the neighborhood, and I’ve tried to model myself after him. He regretted not finishing high school and was always encouraging us to stay in school and get an education.”

The Planned Giving program sponsored by the BCC Foundation allows donors to support the college either during their own lifetimes and/or after their deaths while continuing to meet their current income needs.

“Gifts such as these offer numerous financial and tax benefits for donors,” said Rick Bell, current chairman of the foundation’s finance committee, “while also providing substantial targeted funding for our students and programs.”

“The BCC Foundation contributes nearly a half-million dollars each year to fund scholarships,” said Rebecca Corbin, the foundation’s executive director and acting dean of the school’s Corporate College. “With the growing financial pressures that BCC students face, the foundation board has identified Planned Giving as an area of focus to match the legacy of donors through charitable gift annuities and bequests.

“We are pleased to work closely with the Philadelphia Foundation,” Corbin continued, “and we look forward to further developing our Planned Giving program in the months ahead.”

Meller is a longtime member of the BCC Foundation’s board and served as chairwoman several years ago. She is ebullient in her praise of community colleges in general and of her “hometown county college” in particular.

“County colleges are a ‘great equalizer’ in our educational system. They serve as a stepping-stone into a four-year institution or a meaningful career,” she said. “As one of the top county colleges in the country, BCC offers a number of programs to help displaced workers get back into the job force, along with flexible schedules for those students who are juggling school and work with raising a family.”

For Pazienza, who employs scores of county residents in his three companies — the Cleaning Authority home and office cleaning service, the Mosquito Squad outdoor pest control, and Making Lemon-Aid property rehabilitation — it’s all about providing motivation and direction for students.

“It’s essential for kids to keep moving forward, and two-year schools such as BCC are the best place for that to happen,” he said. “There’s too much focus on four-year colleges, to the detriment of community colleges. We need to give our children a lower-cost, more-accessible way to continue their education. Money should not be an obstacle to learning and growing.”

“We are fortunate to have many generous donors in the county who have invested in the future of Burlington County College,” college President David Hespe said. “As we continue to add new academic programs that align with in-demand careers, we know the need for foundation scholarships will continue. We support and greatly appreciate the foundation’s commitment to promote Planned Giving to assist our students.”

If you have decided to include the BCC Foundation in your estate plan, school officials request that you let them know so they can recognize you and encourage others to follow your example. For more information on how you can create your own Planned Giving arrangement, call the foundation office at 856- 222-9311, ext. 2540.

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